Expat Advice: Financial Issues in Cambridge, UK

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Cambridge

Which banks do you use? If you have a local account, which bank do you use? How do you like it? Do you also have an account in your home country? Which bank? Do they charge for ATM withdrawals? Do they charge a lot for international wire transfers? How has it been working with them from abroad? Do you use a special international wire transfer service? Do you use an online bank? If so, tell us about them.

I switched to USAA Federal Bank and as far as all of my US Dollars needs go, they do more than an adequate job for me. For my Pounds sterling, I bank with the American run bank on the US military base. I only use them to have buy dollars to be transferred to pay my mortgage.

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What advice would you offer others about banking as an expat in your country? What do you wish you had known about banking when you first arrived?

I find that using my American bank credit cards for my purchases on the economy gives me a much better exchange rate than buying pounds at any bank.

What sort of challenges or frustrations have you encountered as an investor living overseas? Please describe.

I found that the English banks or building societies are willing to loan more for a house mortgage than their counterparts in the States. However, buying a house in England is a bit tricky as no contracts to buy or sell are signed up until the day the deed is transferred. Consequently, the seller could accept a better offer in the meantime & the buyer is left out in the cold.

Do you do your own taxes, use a local firm, an expat-oriented firm or does your employer handle this for you (i.e. via an corporate tax firm)?

Being employed by an American concern on the American base, I only get paid in dollars and only file taxes with IRS. Therefore, I doe my own taxes.